A US judge has denied Citigroup’s request that the $54.1M Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration award issued to investors that sustained losses in municipal bond funds be overturned. This is one of the largest securities arbitration awards that a broker-dealer has been ordered to pay individual investors. Brush Creek Capital,…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Former-Chicago Bears Wide Receiver Willie Gault Sued by SEC for Securities Scam Involving the Alleged Inflation of Stock Prices
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is suing former NFL football player Will Gault for securities fraud. According to US regulators, he and several others participated in a fraud scam that involved inflating the stock price of Heart Tronics, which is a heart-monitoring device company. Other defendants in the Commission’s…
Barclays Capital Ordered by FINRA to Pay $3M Fine For Alleged Subprime Mortgage Securitization-Related Misrepresentations
FINRA says that Barclays Capital Inc. will pay $3 million over charges of inadequate supervision related to the residential subprime mortgage securitizations and the misrepresentation of delinquency data. The SRO claims that between 3/07 and 10/10, Barclays misrepresented three RMBS’s historical delinquency rates. Per industry rules, financial firms have to…
Wells Fargo-Sponsored Survey Finds that Sense of Security About Retiring Doesn’t Necessarily Come with Affluence
According to a recent Wells Fargo & Co-sponsored survey, 23% of the 800 Americans with at $100,000 in investable assets who participated reported that they don’t feel confident that they will have enough money saved by the time they retire. 75% said they felt sure that they would have enough.…
Bank of America to Pay $335M to Countrywide Financial Corp. Borrowers Over Allegedly Discriminating Lending Practices
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to a record $335 million settlement to pay back Countrywide Financial Corp. borrowers who were billed more for loans because of their nationality and race, while creditworthiness and other objective criteria took a back seat. All borrowers that were discriminated against qualified to receive…
SEC Sues SIPC Over R. Allen Stanford Ponzi Payouts
In its latest effort to help investors that lost money in the $7 billion Stanford Financial Group Ponzi scam recoup their losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission is suing the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Both have been in disagreement over whether Stanford investors qualify for protection against SIPC rules, which…
Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger Faces SEC Charges Over Pump-and-Dump Scam Involving Sports Drink Company
18 years after he was immortalized in the movie “Rudy,” Daniel Ruettiger and 12 others now face Securities and Exchange Commission charges. They are accused of misleading investor to get them to purchase stock in Ruettiger’s sports drink company Rudy Nutrition. Their alleged pump-and-dump scam resulted in over $11 million…
Well Fargo Advisers to Pay $2 Million to Settle Claims that Broker Sold Unsuitable Reverse Convertible Securities to Seniors
To settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority securities fraud allegations against one of its brokers, Wells Fargo Advisers will pay a $2M fine, as well as repay an unspecified amount to elderly clients that were defrauded. Over 21 senior investors were reportedly targeted by Alfred Chi Chen, who sold them reverse…
Investors Want JP Morgan Chase & Co. To Explain Over $95B of Mortgage-Backed Securities
Institutional investors that placed their money in over $95B in mortgage-backed securities want the trustees overseeing JP Morgan & Chase. Co.-issued securities to figure out whether certain loans shouldn’t have been included as a result of faulty underwriting. US Bank, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo & Co., HSBC,…
Three Investment Advisers Charged with Massachusetts Securities Fraud
Massachusetts securities regulators have filed three actions accusing investment advisers of defrauding investors of millions. The cases come as the state is getting ready to oversee even more investment advisers in 2012. One of the securities fraud actions filed is against unregistered adviser John B. Wilson, who regulators want to…